Search for spyware on your computer online. Purpose of Trojan Scanners

Malware, Trojans and Threats

Most computers are connected to the network (internet, the local network), which simplifies the spread of malicious programs (according to Russian standards, such programs are called "destructive software"but because this concept not widely spread, the review will use the concept " malware"; on english language they are called Malware). These programs include Trojans (also known as Trojan horses), viruses, worms, spyware, adware, rootkits, and various other types.

Another plus is that MBAM rarely causes any conflicts with other anti-malware utilities.

Free SUPERAntiSpyware Trojan Scanner

... Besides spyware, this program scans and removes other types of threats such as dialers, keyloggers, worms, rootkits, etc.

The program has three types of scanning: fast, full or custom scan of the system. Before scanning, the program offers to check for updates to immediately protect you from the latest threats. SAS has its own blacklist. This is a list of 100 examples of various DLLs and EXEs that shouldn't be on your computer. When you click on any of the items in the list, you will receive full description threats.

One of the important features of the program is the presence of Hi-Jack protection, which prevents other applications from shutting down the program (with the exception of Task Manager).

Unfortunately, the free version of this program does not support real-time protection, scheduled scans and a number of other features.

More programs

Others free scanners Trojans not included in the review:

  • Rising PC Doctor (no longer available, you may still be able to find older versions on the Internet) - Trojan and spyware scanner. Offers automatic protection against a number of Trojans. It also offers the following tools: startup management, process manager, service manager, File Shredder (program for deleting files without the possibility of their recovery) and others.
  • FreeFixer - will scan your system and help you remove Trojans and other malware. But, the user is required to correctly interpret the results of the program. Special care must be taken when deciding to delete important system files, as this can damage your system. However, there are forums on which you can consult if you are in doubt about the decision (links to forums are on the site).
  • Ashampoo Anti-Malware (Unfortunately, it has become a trial. Perhaps, early versions can still be found on the Internet) - initially this product was only commercial. The free version provides real-time protection and also offers various optimization tools.

Quick Pick Guide (Trojan Scanner Download Links)

Emsisoft Anti-Malware

Scans and removes Trojans, worms, viruses, spyware, trackers, dialers, etc. Easy to use.
IN free version highly limited. None: automatic updates, real-time file protection, scheduled scan, etc.
Unfortunately, it became trial. Perhaps early versions can still be found on the Internet.
www.emsisoft (.) com

PC Tools ThreatFire

Proactive protection against known and unknown Trojans, viruses, worms, spyware, rootkits and other malicious programs.
Automatic update not available if you have opted out of ThreatFire's community. 4.10 version has not changed since November 2011.

With viruses and the consequences of their impact on computer systems today almost all users are familiar. Among all the threats that are most widespread, a separate place is occupied by spyware that monitors the actions of users and is engaged in theft confidential information... Next, it will be shown what such applications and applets are, and the question related to how to detect spyware on a computer and get rid of such a threat without harm to the system is considered.

What is spyware?

To begin with, spyware, or executable applets, commonly referred to as Spyware, are not, in the usual sense, viruses per se. That is, they have practically no effect on the system in terms of its integrity or performance, although when computers are infected, they can constantly be in random access memory and consume some of the system resources. But, as a rule, this does not particularly affect the operating speed of the OS.

But their main purpose is precisely tracking the user's work, and, if possible, stealing confidential data, substituting email for the purpose of sending spam, analyzing requests on the Internet and redirecting to sites containing malware, analyzing information on the hard drive, etc. It goes without saying that any user must have at least a primitive anti-virus package installed for protection. True, for the most part neither free antiviruses, let alone a built-in firewall Windows full they do not give confidence in safety. Some applications may simply not be recognized. This is where a completely natural question arises: “What then should be the protection of the computer from spyware? " Let's try to consider the main aspects and concepts.

Types of spyware

Before embarking on a practical solution, you should be clear about which applications and applets belong to the Spyware class. Today there are several main types:

  • key loggers;
  • hard disk scanners;
  • screen spies;
  • mail spies;
  • proxy spies.

Each such program has a different effect on the system, so let's see how spyware penetrates the computer and what it can do on the infected system.

Spyware penetration methods into computer systems

Today, due to the incredible development of Internet technologies The World Wide Web is the main open and weakly protected channel that threats of this type use to penetrate local computer systems or networks.

In some cases, spyware is installed on the computer by the user himself, no matter how paradoxical it sounds. In most cases, he doesn't even know about it. And everything is banal and simple. For example, you downloaded from the Internet like interesting program and started the installation. In the first stages, everything looks as usual. But then sometimes windows appear suggesting the installation of some additional software product or add-ons to the Internet browser. Usually all this is written in small print. The user, in an effort to quickly complete the installation process and start working with a new application, often does not pay attention to it, agrees with all the conditions and ... as a result, gets an embedded "agent" for collecting information.

Sometimes spyware is installed on a computer in backgroundthen disguised as important system processes... There may be plenty of options here: installing unverified software, downloading content from the Internet, opening dubious email attachments, and even simply visiting some unsafe resources on the Web. As already clear, it is simply impossible to track such an installation without special protection.

Impact consequences

As for the harm caused by spies, as already mentioned, this does not affect the system as a whole in any way, but user information and personal data are at risk.

The most dangerous among all applications of this type are the so-called key loggers, or, simply put, they are precisely able to monitor the character set, which gives the attacker the opportunity to obtain the same logins and passwords, bank details or card PIN codes, and that's all- what the user would not like to make the property of a wide range of people. As a rule, after determining all the data, they are sent either to a remote server, or by e-mail, of course, to hidden mode... Therefore, it is recommended to use such important information special encryption utilities. In addition, it is advisable to save files not on a hard disk (hard drive scanners can easily find them), but on removable media, and at least on a flash drive, and always together with a decoder key.

Among other things, many experts consider it the safest to use onscreen keyboard, although they recognize the inconvenience of this method.

Tracking the screen in terms of what exactly the user is doing is dangerous only when confidential data or registration details are entered. The spy simply takes screenshots after a certain time and sends them to the attacker. Using the on-screen keyboard, as in the first case, will not give any result. And if two spies work at the same time, then in general you will not hide anywhere.

Email tracking is done on the contact list. The main goal is to replace the content of the letter when sending it for the purpose of sending spam.

Proxy spies do harm only in the sense that they turn a local computer terminal into a kind of proxy server. Why is this needed? Yes, only to hide behind, say, the user's IP address when committing illegal actions. Naturally, the user does not know about it. Let's say, someone hacked into the security system of a bank and stole a certain amount of money. Tracking actions by authorized services reveals that the hacking was made from a terminal with such and such an IP located at such and such an address. Special services come to an unsuspecting person and send him to jail. Isn't there anything good about it?

The first symptoms of infection

Now let's get down to practice. How to check a computer for spyware if, for some reason, doubts about the integrity of the security system crept in? To do this, you need to know how the impact of such applications manifests itself in the early stages.

If for no apparent reason a decrease in performance is noticed, or the system periodically "freezes", or refuses to work at all, first you should look at the use of the load on the processor and RAM, and also monitor all active processes.

In most cases, the user in the same "Task Manager" will see unfamiliar services that were not previously in the process tree. This is only the first bell. The creators of spyware are far from stupid, so they create programs that disguise themselves as system processes, and it is simply impossible to identify them manually without special knowledge. Then problems with connecting to the Internet begin, changes start page etc.

How to check your computer for spyware

As for the scan, standard antiviruses will not help here, especially if they have already missed the threat. At least some kind of portable version like or Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool (or better - something like a Rescue Disc with a system check before it boots).

How do I find spyware on my computer? In most cases, it is recommended to use narrowly targeted special programs class Anti-Spyware (SpywareBlaster, AVZ, XoftSpySE Anti-Spyware, Microsoft Antispyware, etc.). The scanning process in them is fully automated, as well as the subsequent removal. But there are also things worth paying attention to.

How to remove spyware from your computer: standard methods and used third-party software

You can even remove spyware from your computer manually, but only if the program is not disguised.

To do this, you can go to the programs and components section, find the application you are looking for in the list and start the uninstallation process. True, the Windows uninstaller, to put it mildly, is not entirely good, since it leaves a bunch of computer garbage after the process completes, so it is better to use specialized utilities like iObit Uninstaller, which, in addition to removing in a standard way, allow for in-depth scanning for search residual files or even keys and entries in the system registry.

Now a few words about the acclaimed Spyhunter utility. Many call it almost a panacea for all ills. Let us disagree with this. It still scans the system, although sometimes it gives a false alarm. This is not the problem. The fact is that uninstalling it turns out to be quite problematic. For an ordinary user, from all the number of actions that need to be performed, his head is spinning.

What to use? You can protect against such threats and search for spyware on your computer, for example, even using the ESETNOD32 package or Smart Security with activated function "Anti-theft". However, everyone chooses what is best and easier for him.

Legalized espionage in Windows 10

But that's not all. All of the above referred only to how spyware penetrates the system, how it behaves, etc. But what to do when espionage is legalized?

Windows 10 in this regard has distinguished itself not for the better. There are a bunch of services here that need to be disabled (data exchange with remote microsoft servers, using identification to receive advertisements, sending data to a company, determining location using telemetry, receiving updates from multiple locations, etc.).

Is there 100% protection?

If you look closely at how spyware penetrates your computer and what they do afterwards, you can only say one thing about 100% protection: it does not exist. Even with the use of the entire arsenal of means in safety, you can be sure of 80 percent, no more. However, on the part of the user himself, there should be no provocative actions in the form of visiting dubious sites, installing unsafe software, ignoring antivirus warnings, opening e-mail attachments from unknown sources, etc.

Even if you set yourself powerful antivirusthat controls your operating system inside and out (as the developer says), it does not always cope with such a headache as spy scripts. They open a path for intruders and fraudsters, which means your personal data remains at risk. Here special software - anti-spyware programs can help you.

Most antiviruses operate according to a simple and well-proven scheme: there is a database of viruses, websites and spyware scripts, including where the utility works according to the reconciliation principle, that is, it saw something suspicious, then checked with the database, - deleted the bad, left the good.

Anti-spyware works in a slightly different way. They, of course, have their own databases, but there are also other, highly specialized solutions that struggle with scripts. Today we will talk about such a specific software.

There are many programs of this kind on the Web, then a good half of the applications create only the appearance of combating threats and rightly withdraw money for maintaining a license, and some are even protégés of viruses. Therefore, here you need to behave as carefully and carefully as possible.

So, we present to your attention a selection of the best anti-spyware programs for the Windows operating system, which have distinguished themselves by their effectiveness and a lot of positive reviews on specialized forums.

Super AntiSpyware

This utility is one of the most effective solutions to eliminate malicious scripts. In addition, this anti-spyware program will competently clean your operating system from trojans, worms and other suspicious code.

The utility has smart heuristic tools at its disposal to detect spyware that is not in the main database, that is, potential threats. The anti-spyware itself is updated about a couple of times a year, and the signatures are updated two or three times a month.

The utility interface allows you to scan both the entire platform and some individual components, such as disks, individual folders, or RAM. This anti-spyware program works on Windows 7, 8 and 10. Problems with adaptation to a particular OS were not noticed. The software is distinguished by relatively fast scanning and minimal resource consumption, so it is suitable even for the weakest computers.

Spybot Search & Destroy

This anti-spyware program is in Russian and is distributed from free license... The developer often asks for material assistance to support the product, but, as they say, without fanaticism, so you will not see advertising blocks on a half-screen and other aggressive entourage.

The utility does an excellent job with the tasks assigned to it, and can also find and, if desired, delete some traces of the user. This is especially true if the computer is office or "portable". It is also useful to mention the pleasant appearance interface, which, by the way, can be changed using numerous skins and add-ons.

Features of the program

In addition to its direct responsibilities, the software fights well against various adware viruses that attack browsers. Here we are talking about the extremely aggressive "Amigo", "MailRu" and other unwanted "implementers" in everything that is possible.

For inexperienced users and those who like to experiment with the settings and the system, there is a backup functionality where you can return the operating system to square one in case of failure. The anti-spyware program works on Windows 7, 8 and 10. It is adapted for platforms, judging by the feedback from users, it is quite competent, so there should be no problems with brakes and some glitches.

Spyware Terminator

This is a kind of pioneer in the anti-spyware field, who was a recognized leader until there were numerous smart competitors. But to this day, this product enjoys enviable popularity.

In fact, the utility is a comprehensive solution and is positioned as an antivirus. There is a deep system sanitization mode that allows you to find well-hidden malicious codes. For maximum efficiency, the program works in real time and monitors everything and everyone. Naturally, such control significantly loads the platform, so the requirements for the technical component of the computer are quite high. Well, or as an option - this is the relaxation of work and the transition to the usual mode of threat detection.

Also worth mentioning is the special HIPS protocol, which allows you to patch all security holes in the system. Such a barrier will become a serious obstacle for all sorts of Trojans, worms and other malicious scripts. The anti-spyware program works on Windows XP, 7, 8, 10, and has no problems with adaptation to platforms.

Ad-aware

This utility is able to do almost everything that was described in previous programs. In addition, it has its own unique capabilities that make Ad-Aware one of the best apps to find and eliminate spy code.

The software is able to block third-party location tracking systems, and therefore prevent automatic activation malicious code when visiting sites using a similar protocol. The program also prohibits or completely removes aggressive ad scripts by completely sanitizing browser add-ons and plugins, as well as the system registry.

Distinctive features of the software

The utility databases are updated daily and automatically, so there are no problems with the relevance of protection. You can additionally connect a number of plug-ins for some specific detection of malicious code (usually for OS emulators), as well as upgrade the existing interface with different extensions. The latter can turn the utility into a real "monster" that will attack everything that moves, and will not miss a single third-party script that can somehow threaten your platform or personal data.

The only thing worth noting is that each plugin or extension increases the load on your processor and the OS as a whole, so you shouldn't get carried away. Otherwise, you will get excellent "armor", but the braking platform "Windows", which is already capable of properly loading the "stuffing". Well, for virusophobes, this is the ideal software and a sound sleep with the understanding that the OS is under reliable protection.

09/07/2018

Dr.Web CureIt - Free antivirus program from a well-known developer. Dr.Web CureIt is able to scan your computer and detect the presence of various viruses on it. The program will try to cure files as much as possible. If they cannot be cured at all, Dr.Web CureIt will send them to quarantine. The program successfully fights all forms of viruses: Trojans, dialers, spies, etc. The program's anti-virus databases are updated regularly, so it can be used in critical situations. The program can be run from command line... In this case, she can be asked which folders need to be scanned ...

30/05/2018

RogueKiller is a lightweight antivirus product that allows you to quickly and efficiently remove and clean the entire system of malicious applications. The program can easily find and neutralize any worms, Trojans, rootkits. After downloading the program, the scanning process begins immediately. Antivirus utility finds all running malicious applications and stops their action. Then a window appears with a request to delete, disinfect or replace the infected file. This utility can restore hOSTS files, DNS, proxy servers modified as a result of the influence of malicious software. RogueKiller is capable of quickly removing infected startup items ...

22/02/2018

Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit is software that detects and removes various exploits, vulnerabilities and threats. Provides effective fight even with those pests against which traditional antiviruses are powerless. For high-quality computer protection against malicious exploits, newest technologies Zero Vulnerability Labs. The application is equipped with screens for all browsers and their components. It is possible to block such exploit systems as Blackhole, Sakura and others. A convenient quality is that there is no need for regular signature updates. Another important advantage ...

08/01/2018

BitDefender is a free antivirus scanner that scans your system on demand or on schedule. Must warn that permanent protection this program does not provide, and therefore it is not recommended to use it as the main means of protection. The user is offered several modes of operation. You can carry out a quick scan, you can complete a scan, or you can set a scan to be performed on a schedule, which is very convenient if the computer is constantly working, but you are often not there. In addition, BitDefender has a quarantine function, which makes it easy to isolate all dete ...

08/01/2018

24/08/2017

SuperAntiSpyware is a free redistributable program designed to detect malware (spyware, Trojans, worms, keyloggers, rootkits and many others) and its subsequent correct deletion... The utility protects by scanning RAM, registry, files on internal and external devices... Any unwanted software detected is removed or quarantined. The program is easy to use, the interface is intuitive even for an inexperienced user, at the same time the website offers answers to many questions that may arise while working with the program. User can ...

24/08/2017

EMCO Malware Destroyer is an antivirus scanner with unique engine and low system requirements... It can come in handy when the main antivirus tool becomes insufficient. For example, if you know for sure that there is a virus on your computer that is not detected by your standard antivirus... In this case, installing EMCO Malware Destroyer will help. This antivirus scanner very quickly checks the system for viruses, after which it gives a list of detected threats and the proposed actions. Besides simple scan files and folders, the program is able to check Internet browsers for spyware ...

31/03/2017

IObit Malware Fighter is free appdesigned to identify, block and remove various malicious softwarethat can harm your computer. This application equipped with an advanced algorithm of actions that helps to easily detect and neutralize different types of viruses and spyware. There is a built-in "cloud technology" to protect the device in real time. The settings can be fully adjusted by the user, which allows you to customize the protection functions based on the smallest details of this process. The program is also equipped with improved ...

10/06/2016

Cezurity Antivirus Scanner is a powerful antivirus product. The program helps to search for viruses and disinfect files from them. Using cloud technologies speeds up the process of checking your computer for Trojans and spyware. The Cezurity Antivirus Scanner user does not need to download signatures every time. The principle of operation of an antivirus scanner is extremely simple: the scanner collects information (hashes) from a computer, and later transfers this information to a cloud service for analysis. Chezurity Antivirus Scanner checks files differently too. The application checks critical system files for integrity. This check takes only a few minutes, which ...

25/05/2016

AntiSMS - boot disk to restore your system after blocking by SMS blockers. Surely you are familiar with the situation of blocking your computer with various SMS blockers. Those. when you boot your computer, you are given a window asking you to transfer some amount to a specific number, or send an SMS to short number, which, in principle, means the same thing. There can be several pretexts, for example, they can write that your computer has been blocked for distributing unlicensed content. This problem occurs quite often and is also easily solved, however, due to the fact that the system is locked, you will not ...

Did you like the article? To share with friends: